>> tonight over the cliff with a possible parachute. congress is close to a new deal on taxes but won't meet the midnight deadline. nancy cordes and major garrett on what happens next. doctors are monitoring secretary of state hillary clinton who is in the hospital with a blood clot. reports from margaret brennan and jon lapook. mark strassman on a new technology that could stop deadly drunk driving accidents. >> the optical signature registers above .08, then the vehicle will prevent you from moving. >> and with elephants under siege by poachers, m. sanjay meets a woman who has become a foster mother raising baby elephants until they can care for themselves.

captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> good evening. scott is off. i'm rebecca jarvis. in a few hours, the u.s. will go over the fiscal cliff which could trigger across-the-board tax increases and billions in spending cuts. however, there is hope for a soft landing. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell and president obama said today a deal was close. but late in the day house leaders announced they will not vote on a deal tonight. they're waiting for the senate. so what happens now? we have two reports beginning with nancy cordes on capitol hill. nancy, good evening. >> good evening to you, rebecca. it looks like the deadline pressure finally prompted a meeting of the minds today. negotiators agreed to a plan that extends the bush era tax cuts for 99% of americans. but they are hung up on one key spending issue, and so it looks like we will go over the fiscal

cliff at least temporarily. >> we're very, very close to an agreement. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell said his round-the-clock negotiations with vice president biden had paid off. >> i can report that we've reached an agreement on all of the tax -- the tax -- issues. >> reporter: first and foremost, the bush era tax cuts. the two sides agreed to extend them permanently for all household income under $400,000 a year for individuals, $450,000 a year for families. negotiators also agreed to prevent the al tesh tiff minimum tax on the wealthy from hitting millions of middle class families every year by permanently adjusting it to inflation. and they agreed to hike the estate tax rate from 35% to 40%, but the first $5 million worth of inheritance would be exempt from taxation permanently. the breakthugh prompted relief for many, including connecticut senator joe lieber man. >> i hope the negotiations going

on now end with an agreement and i hope that we will pass it with bipartisan majority in theong senate and the house. >> reporter: but others, chiefly republicans, were angry that the deal did not include a serious package of spending cuts and might actually add to the deficit. tennessee senator bob corker. >> everybody on this body knows we've done nothing -- nothing -- by the time this agreement takes place to reduce a penny of debt in this country. people know that. that's a shame. >> reporter: tonight the two sides are still haggling over the $110 billion worth of spending cuts across-the-board cuts that are set to go into effect tomorrow. they're trying to figure out a way to push those cuts off for at least a couple of months. because of that, rebecca, the senate still hasn't voted and the house can't vote until the

senate does. so we're still in limbo. >> nancy cordes, thank you. president obama gave a briefing on the budget talks before an audience that included former campaign volunteers and supporters. major garrett is at the white house tonight. major, good evening. >> good evening, rebecca. the president wants higher income taxes on the wealthy but he had to give up a few things to achieve that. gone, for example, the $250,000 threshold that was part of the presidential successful re-election campaign. top white house officials insisted it would notábtdge. it's moved up to $450,000 per household. taxes will go up on estates and family farms but the president gave in toe republican demands o minimize the scope of that particular tax increase. all along both sides said they want to keep taxes more or less where they are for most tax payers. that's been achieved but republicans in the senate and the house for the first time and under the president's steady pressure are saying they're looking at and likely to vote for higher income taxes.

>> for now our most immediate prioty is to stop taxes going up for middle class families starting tomorrow. i think that is a modest goal that we can accomplish. democrats and republicans in congress have to get this done but they're not there yet. they are close. but they're not there yet. one thing we can count on with respect to this congress is that if there's even one second left before you have to do what you're supposed to do, they will use that last second. >> reporter: the president appears willing and congress appears prepared to go along with an idea of using time it doesn't really have. but after securing an extension of jobless benefits and tax credits for low-income and poor working families, the president thinks congress and more importantly the country can live with one day of cliff diving but not many more. >> major garrett, thank you. all of this uncertainty is not sitting well with business owners. it's tough to run a company when

you have no idea what's going to happen in washington. lee cowan has that part of the story. >> reporter: joanne is running the numbers. her payroll is due this week. although she at least now has a hint of what taxes to withhold from her dozen employees, that's only half her worry. unresolved spending cuts are the other. >> it's very uncertain and very unnerving and very... causes a lot of anxiety and a lot of lack of sleep. >> reporter: she's the president of golden state magnetic and penetrant, a $2 million a year los angeles company that inspects, cleans and paints high-tech aircraft and aerospace parts. everything from fighter jets to mars rovers. any cuts in defense spending could mean cuts in her business too. and waiting has her on a fiscal cliff of her own. what does it do to there's another month, two months, three months of this?

>> it could potentially impact the entire year. it doesn't allow you to make any plans or focus on what your future expansion or growth or anything is. >> reporter: it could shoot a hole in your whole year. >> yes. reporter: california has the most workers associated with the defense industry. in 2010 the numbers topped out at more than 160,000 employees so the wrangling in washington has a huge impact here. there seems an element of this that is just... >> unfair? reporter: is that what you think? >> incredibly unfair. reporter: because? because they have a responsibility. they're not taking care of it. >> reporter: the company did to have lay off workers during the recession but she said things were starting to get better. december was a very good month. all this unis effort tee she says puts her right back to square one a problem that she says was completely avoidable from the start. >> lee cowan, thank you. we're learning more' what caused

secretary of state hillary to be admitted to a hospital. doctors say mrs. clinton is being treated for a blood clot in her head. margaret brennan is at new york presbyterian hospital and good evening, margaret. >> good evening to you, rebecca. secretary clinton and her top aides are inside this hospital. we now know she is being treated for a blood clot inside her head. according to a statement just released by her doctors, quote, this is a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. it did not result in a stroke or neuro logical damage. this comes after clinton was hospitalized on sunday. this was former president bill clinton leaving the hospital this afternoon where his wife will remain for at least another day. the 65-year-old was last seen in public on december 7 in northern ireland where she spoke about life after her retirement from

the state department. >> i look forward to coming back and having some time just to relax and spend a few hours talking with friends and thinking about things besides public life. >> reporter: clinton develops a stomach virus was on that trip to europe and had to cancel a subsequent visit to morocco. a few days later back in the u.s. she fainted and fell. her aides say it was the result of dehydration. on december 15 the state department announced that clinton had sustained a concussion in that fall. doctors recommended, quote, that the secretary continue to rest and avoid any strenuous activity and strongly advised her to cancel all work events for the coming week. clinton canceled the december 20 appearance before a congressional committee to testify about the attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi. she also missed the december 21 nomination of senator john kerry to succeed her. on december 27, the state department announced that

clinton would return to work in the new year. it was three days later when her spokesperson said she had been hospitalized. secretary clinton had a blood clot once before in 1998 as first lady. she said she developed one in her leg from her nonstop flying around the country. as secretary of state that nonstop travel continued. she visited 112 countries and flew nearly one million miles. in initial statements clinton spokesperson said she would be hospitalized for 48 hours. doctors now say they need to see how she responds to medication. >> margaret brennan, thank you. dr. jon lapook is our chief medical correspondent. good evening, jon. so, what do you think has happened to secretary clinton? >> rebecca, that blood clot that margaret described is behind the right ear. it's in the vein that helps bring blood from the brain all the way down. what happened is really anybody's guess but trying to put it together, we know that

two to three weeks ago she fainted and hit her head. at that time, she could have had trauma. she could ripped that vein and had a little bleeding, a little clot formation. on top of that we were told she had a stomach virus. we know that dehydration increases the odds of having a clot. on top of that there's a history of a blood clot in her leg. it is possible that she has underlying tendency towards increased clotting. that's something down the road where doctors are going to have to look into that. >> how serious does it sound and what's the prognosis? >> the prognosis seems excellent. the reason is this was found incidentally. she didn't have a stroke or a seizure. it was just found on an incidental exam. she's going to need, say, three to six months of anti-coagulation. in the months following head trauma if you're thinning somebody's blood there is a risk of causing bleeding. they're going to follow her very closely and the prognosis should be excellent. >> dr. jon lapook, thank you. indians protest for women's rights after a rape victim's

violent death. was the driver going too fast before a deadly bus crash in oregon? and why this was a tough day to be an nfl coach. when the cbs evening news continues. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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>> reporter: protests replaced new year's celebrations in many places in india today as men and women of all ages demanded changes to the way authorities treat rape and women. >> we just want justice. want justice. reporter: the anger first erupted last week sparked by the case of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student gang raped and beaten by six men out joy riding on a new dehli bus which is now a crime scene. she died on saturday, still not publicly named because the stigma of rape is so great. victims say they're often ignored and humiliated so it takes an exceptionally brave woman to speak up. shavna is one of them. >> after she said she was gang raped in herñi village near new dehli her father committed suicide believing the family honor was ruined. now with police protection, shavna has decided to pressçó charges. "way want them all punished,"

she says," so my father didn't die in vein." protests across india show a new generation is challenging deep-rooted sexism, but it will be a long fight. female babies are still routinely aborted by couples who prefer sons, which is upset india's gender balance. for every 100 men, there are now only 94 women. a number that still is dropping while rape itself is on the rise. official figures show a 25% increase in six years. whatever the reasons, indians are furious. the government clearly rattled by the outcry has announced that the six men akeulsed in the bus rape case will face murder charges and the death penalty. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, london. >> jarvis: a passenger who survived a deadly bus crash in oregon on sunday says the driver was going too fast. the bus carrying 46 people

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drivers from ever starting their engines. >> reporter: on october 29, 2010, matt and meredith eastridge were pregnant with their first child, a son. the same night david huffman spent the last two hours of his life getting drunk. he put away the equivalent of 15 drinks, each one recorded on a security camera. the 25-year-old stumbled out of the charlotte bar and three minutes later... >> i remember saying look at that car. and that was the last thing i remember. >> reporter: you were hit head on. >> yes, sir. reporter: both the eastridges were critically injured when huffman with a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit and driving 100 miles per hour hurdled into their s.u.v. meredith, six months pregnant, lost their baby. >> i think about him every day. i think about, you know, how old he would be and what he would be doing. >> reporter: a family you would have had. >> right. there are multiple times in

that night that this tragedy could have been prevented. >> so we want to take this device and implement it in the car. >> reporter: bud glowg is leading a research team creating technology that could prevent 10,000 drunk driving deaths a year. unlike this existing breathalyzer test for convicted drunk drivers, these two new sensors would test anyone behind the wheel. >> the idea is to develop a sensor that can be implemented in the vehicle to prevent anybody that's above the legal limit, above the .08 legal limit from moving the vehicle and driving. >> reporter: the touch base sensor embedded in the start-stop button shines an infrared light into the driver's finger. in a half second it measures the alcohol content in the tissue. the second type of technology is a breath space sensor mounted near the steering wheel. it would measure molecules in a driver's breath. how far away is this technology from being ready? >> at this stage i would say we're probably looking 8-10 years away is when you would start seeing it inside vehicles.

>> reporter: the $10 million funding is split between 16 car makers and the federal government but it's opposed by the american beverage institute which represents 8,000 chain restaurants in the u.s. the group made the following statement. drunk driving fatalities are at historically low levels. we shouldn't try to solve what's left of the drunk driving problem by targeting all left of the drunk driving problem by targeting all americans with alcohol-sensing technology. the eastridges now have a daughter sloan. they hope this technology will be standard in new cars by the time she is old enough to drive. mark strassman, cbs news, charlotte. >> jarvis: one day after the nfl's regular season ended, seven teams fired their head coaches. among the newly unemployed are super bowl veterans andy reed of the philadelphia eagles, ken whisenhunt of the arizona cardinals and lovie smith of the chicago bears plus buffalo's chan daily, cleveland's pat shermer, kansas city's romeo

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killed every year by poachers who make a fortune selling their i've retusks. left behind are hundreds of orphaned elephants. our contributing science correspondent m. san jay of the nature conservancy has found a woman who has devoted her entire life helping them at an elephant sanctuary in kenya. >> reporter: these orphaned elephants are getting a second chance at life thanks to their foster mother named daphne sheldrick. >> we tried to replicate what that baby elephant would have in the wild. the most important thing being a family. >> reporter: sheldrick has lived among elephants nearly 60 years and started the orphanage in the 1970s when killing elephants for their tusks became an international crisis. over the years, she's discovered elephants share many traits with humans. a long life span, mourning of their dead and strong family bonds. that's led to new technique for

raising elephants in captivity. >> we have a team of keepers that represent the elephant family that they've lost. and here in the nursery, the keepers or attendants are with the orphans 24 hours a day because the baby elephants in a natural situation would never ever be left on its own. all the family care for that baby. >> reporter: today elephants are under attack again by criminal gangs of poachers. >> you better get better soon. reporter: for sheldrick it cuts deeply. >> i raised over 150 infants through the nursery here. we've lost orphans to poaching. one came just the other day. we raised that elephant from one week old. it's like losing a family member. >> reporter: this is sheldrick's latest adoptee one-year-old kwanza. her mother and two sisters were gunned down near a national

park. sheldrick's staff was called in to help. the baby would in severe shock and would not feed. kwanza was stabilized by vets and then air lifted back to the orphanage. sheldrick says it's difficult to get traumatized elephants to accept food from humans. so it was a big moment when kwanza took milk from a bottle for the first time. the human touch is crucial. but sheldrick told us kwanza's fellow orphans are just as important. >> she will be able to take her cues from them. they will be comforting her. >> reporter: kwanza won't be released back into the wild for ten years. if that happens she would be sheldrick graduate number 198. that's a record made possible by her caretakers, human and otherwise. m. san 'jay, cbs news, nairobi. >> jarvis: and that is the cbs evening news for scott pelley, i'm rebecca jarvis. for all of us at cbs news, happy new year. good night.

this is 9 news now. with this congress that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time. >> tonight senate lawmakers are close to locking in a hard fought deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. but there are still some major sticking points, especially over spending and house leaders say they won't vote tonight. still the headline tonight is that the two sides seem to have agreed on how best to address the bus era tax cuts. randall pinkston now with the very latest. >> the senate is close to a deal, as the clock ticks toward midnight and the nation teeters on the edge of the so-called fiscal cliff. >> passed the tax relief portion. now let's take what's been agreed to and get moving. >> reporter: the tentative deal